Wow! What an epic ride this was.
I was invited to go with the same guys from the Sequoia Challenge (Downhill Dave & RiderX) so I hitch a ride with them. And another rider, Eric came along too. So 4 of us setting out to do the Big Bear Ride. None of us have finished the ride before so we all have visions of completing the ride this year.

Well, we got there Friday night just before sign-ups and registered for the ride. Had a really good dinner there at the convention center and got to bed early.
5:00 Am we are up and getting ready to go. Bikes are already unloaded and we just had to eat and gear-up. Just before 6:00 AM we hit the road and began our quest to conquer the Hard Trails.
We had been told that this year they made the course tougher and longer. Estimated distance was 199.7 miles for all the hard routes.
So off we went.
Section 1 took of off the pavement and into the forest right away. As we climbed over the mountain it took us into the canyons where we rode miles of soft deep sand washes all the way out to the desert. Good thing it was the first section 'cause it was hot out there. The trails across the desert had long sections of whoops and dust. We blasted across the whoops and roads until we found the first gas stop (79 miles out). We filled up the tanks and head back up the mountain. And by now we have more fluids and protein bars in our system.
As a side note-- The mount for my GoPro broke off before we even started this ride so I couldn't use it to shoot any video. Good news is that RiderX just got a GoPro and so he was recording the ride. -- back to the report.
So as we approached the hillside, there was an optional hill climb that nobody had made yet. We stopped to watch 2 guys struggle with the rocks about halfway up. Dave jumped at the chance to be the first one to make it and he did.. well almost. He was only about ten feet shy. But they counted it as a make. Later we heard that only Dave and 2 other guys all day made it. Good job Dave.
We took the other option to save our energy and met Dave at the top of the hill. The rest of this section was pretty easy. At one point we had to launch our bikes up some sharp rock ledges to get up a small hill. You know the kind where both feet are out to the side and your pulsing the throttle to launch the bike over the rocks. Fun stuff.
RiderX and I came over a small bluff when we saw someone in the bushes off the road. It was Eric. He and his bike were sitting in the middle of a large bush. Mike helped him out of there and pulled his bike out. Eric was okay and laughed about it. Small mistakes can land you in the strangest places.
You can see here the bush on the left is where we found him.

Mike helps Eric and his bike out from the bush.

More desert dirt roads after that and then some hill climbs back into Big Bear. Dave and I tore through the roads for a few miles until we came to some shade trees and we pulled over to wait for RiderX and Eric. Eric and RacerX show up and we get ready to leave when Dave realizes that his rear tire is flat. 30 minutes later and we're back on the trial.
We make it safely back into town and fill up with more gas and food. Eric's back was hurting so he bailed to the motorhome and so Dave, RiderX and I continued on to the hard stuff. The second half of the ride would take us over Gold Mountain, White Mountain, and Deep Creek crossing... oh and Crab Flats.
As we climbed Gold Mountain I was reminded of my ride last year. All of the sudden all of the bad memories came back. This mountain was tough because if the rocks on top of rocks. And their not small rocks either. Besides the rocks you've got boulders poking up out of the ground sporadically.
Dave was first up the hill and RiderX and I followed. Last year I tipped over trying to get up the boulder step-up (that's what I call it). When we got to the the step-up it was Dave who had tipped over. The bike had him pinned underneath it and he couldn't get out. RiderX ran over to him and lifted the bike off of him and we proceeded to figure our way up the boulders. This time I carefully looked at a grove between two boulders and went for it. The front tire came up and when the rear tire grabbed a sold surface it launch me in the air and I landed on top. Cool. I meant to do that.

Compare the size of the boulders to Mike's bike.

Boulder Step-up

Beyond that we hit more rocks and more rocks and hill climbs with rocks. It was never ending rocks. Here's a shot of the ground above the step-up.

Buried Boulders

Check Points came and went and we continued to ride and fast as we could. BTW: The check points were awesome. They had water and snacks. They cleaned our goggles and filled our camelbacks. Great support on this ride!
So we turned off to Crabs Flats where the start has this gnarly hill climb that's mostly make of sold rocks and you're launching the bike up the hill in spurts like bunny-hopping as you go up. It was the strangest hill climb I've ever done. and then we rode the ridges down to the river crossing. I had hear a lot about this river crossing, how deep it was and how some many people don't make it. Well, I was a little anxious to see just what it looked like. And when we got there, it didn't look that deep. Here's a shot as Dave (in front) and I wait for 2 other guys to get their bikes out of the way so we could cross.

Deep Creek Crossing

Well it was deeper than it looked and I'm just glad I have long legs because when the front end dropped of the rock ledge halfway across I had to use my legs to keep my balance. I gave it some throttle and that new tire grabbed the rocks below and sent to shore safe and sound.
I was happy. I little wet, but happy I made it across.
With my boots, and Dave's filled with water we headed for White Mountain. We heard the hill climb there was real tough.
Sorry, I don't have more pictures. Too focused on getting through the ride on time.
We hit a few fun hills on our way ,and we also ran into a bunch of Jeeps climbing and descending the hills and we weaved our way around them and the very large boulders. Not an easy thing to do.
White mountain was claiming lots of riders and I was one of them. I made it past one guys who was stuck on the hill and I almost reached the top when my front wheel took a left turn without even asking me. But my rear tire wanted to keep going straight. So I let go of the bike and let it spin off to the side and land in the brush. i wasn't about to fight with it especially this late in the day. Minor scuff to the guards, no big deal. I was fine and that's all I cared about. So I fired up the bike and continued to climb.
After another few hills to climb and rocks to cover we made it to the top of White Mountain and headed home toward Gold Mountain. That's right, after 11 hours on the bike we had to ride down Gold Mountain this time.
This time our route would take us through the famous ocean of boulders where we had to ride on the tops of these large, sharp boulders. I posted better pictures of this last year. But I did get a shot for scale this time.

Ocean of Boulder

Well, we all (Downhill Dave, RiderX, JonnyNITRO) all made it safely down Gold Mountain and to the last check point... and on time too. When arrived at 6:00 PM and the ride was over.
The stress, the pain, the struggle was all behind us now. After 12 hours on the bike and 200 miles we were beat. But we made it!
We checked in, showered and ate dinner at the banquet where we received our plaques and some extra goodies during the raffle and announcements.

Great Achievement

Will we do it again next year? Only time will tell. But what an epic ride for sure. Out of 323 registered riders only 75 made it through all the hard routes on time. It is without a doubt one of the toughest rides for dual sport in Southern California.

Can't wait to see the videos from RiderX. Thanks for inviting me guys.

Bravo! I knew you could do it. WOW what a torture test on man & machine. Those rocks on Gold hill & white mountain (the square ones) really suck. I know the vertical rock face step you are talking about, the front of it is undermined from jeeps trying to climb up it. While I was waiting for my “riding partner” in 09 I saw a rider come blasting up over those boulders before it & he literally launched his bike up & over it without slowing down!!! AS I recall that face must be 2-3 feet high. WOW !!! I suspect he had done that ride a few times before. I read through your report & didn’t see that you guys had to do the tree crossings or drag your bikes under any trees this year. That’s a relief for sure, especially when it was at the end of the day. Did they take you up Delamar mountain hill climb ? They made the course longer this year. In 09 it was 168 miles & 12 hours. Very impressive that you guys finished. Good job & nice RR. The BBQ on Sat night sure hits the spot after all that work.

Aaron8 - Thanks. It was a tough ride. Just wish I had more pictures and video to go along with it.
Dusty Rock - Thanks. It was a longer ride this year, 200 miles. Delamar Mountain doesn't sound familiar, but that doesn't mean we didn't go there. I can't remember all the names, just the ones where we struggled.

The change in elevation was a strain on your breathing and endurance too. We went from 3000 ft in the desert to 8700 on top of the mountain. Funny thing is, my bike never seemed to change in the performance. At least I never noticed a difference. Those guys at 3 Bros Racing really know their stuff. It was my first ride on the Pirelli MT43 and I tell you what, after I got used to it, it was awesome. What better ride to test it than on Gold Mountain. It hooked up so well I found myself shooting off the course when my front wheel was facing the wrong direction. Whew!

The Bar-B-Que was great. Always nice to have good food (and a lot of it) after a tough day like that.
Time to clean the bike, fix the leaks and get out again.

Bummer about the sun in the eyes. I wonder if they even thought about that when they set the course ? The good thing is it was an easy trail giving you a chance to "warm up" & they didnt throw you into the rocks & climbing Gold Hill 1st thing like they did to us in 09. That jeep road/trail looked similar to the Mojave trail after leaving Baker.......

Hey Jonny
Thanks for editing and posting my videos on our ride, I still need to buy some soft ware so i can start playing with it. Hope your night ride went well on Friday its sounded like fun. We will hook up soon for a ride .Mike